UNLUCKY 64 (or is it 65)

I still don't believe in luck, but if I did, I would believe in the bad part of luck, rather than the good. Each year, in March, I get ready for one of the best sports times of the year: March Madness; that is, the Division I Men's college basketball tournament of 64 teams (or 65, depending on who you ask. Read someone else's blog for that explanation). As I wrote before, I love, especially, the idea of upsets, the underdogs beating some of the better teams. This year's tournament did not disappoint, as there were many upsets, and no one predicted a final game between Duke and Butler, ending in a 2 point game (the closest margin in years). I was satisfied...almost.

The worst part of the tournament happened before the tournament ever got started. I thought it would be a fun, family activity, to have everyone in my family, all 7 of us, pick the games, just like I do before the tournament begins. We could make it a competition. Of course, I knew it couldn't be much of a competition, since in my family, I know everything about basketball, and the rest of my family knows, pretty much, nothing. But, at least we could all have "fun", while they are amazed at my incredible picks, and I console them for picking all the losers to win.

So, a couple nights before the tournament begin, I handed out brackets to everyone and the process was under way. I helped my family pronounce some of the names, told them who the mascots were, and even what color uniforms they wore. I did my best to inform them of what the seeding system meant, that they should never pick a 16 seed to beat a 1, and that, normally, the higher seeds win. There are always upsets, and the trick is trying to figure out who would do it. It did take a while, but I thought it was relatively fun watching them all fill out the brackets and answering the innumerable questions they had.

I felt great about my picks and my eventual family championship. I told the family there would be prizes; but I decided to wait until I won, before deciding what my prize would be! Well, the tournament has been over, now, since this past Monday night, and since I am just now getting around to blogging about it, you can, perhaps, guess what happened. Consider the title of this entry.

Do you want to take a wild guess as to what place I finished, out of the 7 in our family? That's right...dead last. LAST! Can you believe it? That means my 9 year old twins, my 10 year old daughter, my 14 year old twins (now 15), and even my wife, who doesn't watch basketball - they all beat me, and not just by a little bit. They crushed me. I hang my head in shame, all the while making excuses, of course, for my turn of "bad luck." This should not be allowed to happen. I have played sports, especially basketball, all of my life. It just doesn't seem right that a woman, who knows more about broccoli than basketball should be able to out pick me. That should be outlawed.

O.k. I got it out. I feel better now. I just have to remember what is most important in all of this, right? Like having fun with the family, and seeing them enjoy beating their old dad, right? I can just smile, and laught, and let me be a good family memory. I don't think so. The important lesson here is overconfidence. That's what it was - overconfidence. I now enter the "off season" training time for picking the NCAA tournament - with focus and determination. I can start gathering my statistics, scouting all the teams for next year, and reading up on all the preseason magazines. I will also take advantage of all of my resources, including the ability to confuse my children in explaining next year's competition, changing all the rules, and of course, the big one: bribing them with candy, to pick all the losers. My luck (which I don't believe in), is about to change. I can feel it: 2011 is my year!